C.

Anderson

History of the Modern Middle East

History 508: 205 Rutgers University Instructor: Charles Anderson Office: Van Dyck Hall, room 107; Office hrs by appointment Email: cwa203@nyu.edu

This is a survey class designed to introduce students to the broad contours of Middle Eastern history since the eighteenth century. Together we will explore through lectures, discussion and other exercises major themes in the history of the region, including: transformations in the Ottoman empire in the 18th and 19th centuries; its dissolution in the 20th century; imperialism and colonialism; regional incorporation into the world economy; anti-colonialism, nationalism and the emergence of the contemporary state system; the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; the effects of the Cold War; the rise of Islamism; and postwar US policy in the region. Throughout, our focus will be on analyzing themes and developments within their historical contexts. The geographic concentration of the class will largely be the Arab East (the mashriq), Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, with more limited attention on Iran and North Africa as well. While building a basic knowledge of the region this course also aims at strengthening and utilizing analytical and interpretive skills and at building a conceptual vocabulary adequate to understanding and thinking about Middle Eastern history.

REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING 1. Weekly response papers: One page (two pages max) reaction papers that treat materials read for class are due each week. Responses may take the form of summarizing the key points of a reading or readings, or they may be a comment or critique of readings. Students may miss two weeks of responses without penalty. (20% of grade) 2. Mid-term paper: You will write a paper answering one of a prepared set of questions, citing from class materials. The paper will be 5-6 pages in length. (25% of grade) 3. Final paper: Similar in format to the mid-term. Length 7-8 pages. (35% of grade) 4. Attendance and classroom participation: mandatory at all classes. (20% of grade) ***Please note: plagiarism is grounds for failure of the course. Do not plagiarize.***

REQUIRED TEXT: James Gelvin, The Modern Middle East: A History (New York: Oxford UP, 2005)

C. Anderson COURSE SCHEDULE AND READINGS: September 10: The Ottoman Empire in historical perspective Gelvin, part I introduction, and chapter 1: p. 9-26 Albert Hourani, The Ottoman Background of the Modern Middle East in K.H. Karpat, ed., The Ottoman Empire and Its Place in World History (Leiden: EJ Brill, 1981 [1974]), p. 61-78 September 17: The Ottoman Empire in 18th century: regional autonomy Gelvin, chapter 4: 47-59 Beshara Doumani, Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900 (Berkeley: U. California Press, 1995), p. 16-53 Juan Cole, Napoleans Egypt: invading the Middle East (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) selection TBA September 24: The 19th century and the Tanzimat reforms Gelvin, part II introduction and chapters 5 and 7: 69-87, 100-110 Khaled Fahmy, The Era of Muhammad Ali Pasha, 1805-1848 in M.W. Daly, ed., The Cambridge History of Egypt, volume 2 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 139-179 Samir Khalaf, Communal Conflict in Nineteenth-Century Lebanon in Bernard Lewis and Benjamin Braude, eds., Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, v. 2 (New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1982), p. 107-134 October 1: The close of the Ottoman era: imperialism and fragmentation Gelvin, chapters 6, 8, 10: 88-99, 123-131, 139-146 The Earl of Cromer, Modern Egypt, v. 2 (London: Macmillan, 1908), p. 123-67 Martin Daly, The British Occupation of Egypt, 1882-1922 in The Cambridge History of Egypt, v.2, p. 239-251 Ellen Meiksins Wood, Empire of Capital (London: Verso, 2003), p. 89-117 October 8: World War I and the mandates system Gelvin, part III introduction and chapters 11-12: p. 171-196 Roger Owen, State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East (London: Routledge, 1992), p. 1-22 Toby Dodge, Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied (Columbia University Press, 2003), p. 63-82 October 15: Arab nationalism and resistance Gelvin, chapter 13: 197-205 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism (London: Verso 2006 [1983]) selection TBA James L. Gelvin, The Social Origins of Popular Nationalism in Syria: Evidence for a New Framework, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, v. 26, n. 4 (Nov 1994), p. 645-661 October 22: Palestine, Zionism, and the birth of Israel Gelvin, chapter 14: 206-214 2

C. Anderson Avi Shlaim, The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab world (New York: Norton and Co., 2000), p. 1-27 Avi Shlaim, The Debate about 1948, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 27:3 (August 1995), p. 287-304 Rashid Khalidi, The Iron Cage: the story of the Palestinian struggle for statehood (Boston: Beacon Press, 2006), p. 31-64 October 29: The cold war, Arab socialism, and the politics of pan-Arabism Kathleen Christison, Perceptions of Palestine: their influence on U.S. Middle East policy (Berkeley: UC Press, 1999), p. 95-123 Malcolm Kerr, The Arab Cold War: Gamal Abd al-Nasir and his Rivals, 1958-1970 (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1965), p. 1-25 Fawaz Gerges, The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: U.S. actions and Arab perceptions in David Lesch, ed., The Middle East and the United States: a historical and political reassessment (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2003), p. 191-210 November 5: Oil, Islamism, and geopolitics: the US, Saudi Arabia and Iran Gelvin, chapter 16: 247-256 Robert Vitalis, Black Gold, White Crude: An Essay on American Exceptionalism, Hierarchy, and Hegemony in the Gulf, Diplomatic History, v. 26, n. 2 (Spring 2002), p. 185-213 Fred Halliday, Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: religion and politics in the Middle East (London: I.B. Tauris, 1995), p. 42-75 Tim Mitchell, McJihad: Islam in the US Global Order, Social Text, v. 20, n.4 [73], (Winter 2002), p. 1-18 November 12: the end of the Cold War and the New World Order Joost Hiltermann, A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq, and the Gassing of Halabja (New York: Cambridge UP, 2007) selection TBA Bernard Lewis, The Roots of Muslim Rage, The Atlantic Monthly (September 1990), p. 47-60 Anders Strindberg and Mats Wrn, Realities of Resistance: Hizballah, the Palestinian Rejectionists, and al-Qaida Compared, Journal of Palestine Studies, v. 34, n. 3, Spring 2005, p. 23-41 screen: Adam Curtis (BBC), The Power of Nightmares, part 1: Baby its cold outside http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares November 19: Palestine-Israel: from occupation to peace process and beyond Samih K. Farsoun and Naseer Aruri, Palestine and the Palestinians: a social and political history (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2006), ch 8: p. 239-274 Tamir Sorek, Soccer Fandom and Citizenship in Israel, Middle East Report, No 245, Winter 2007 Darryl Li, Disengagement and the Frontiers of Zionism, Middle East Report Online, Feb 16, 2008: http://www.merip.org/mero/mero021608.html Neve Gordon, Israels Occupation (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), p. 197222 November 26: Thanksgiving break no class 3

C. Anderson December 3: the Iraq wars, 9-11, and the war on terror Joe Stock and Ann M. Lesch, Why War? in Cynthia Peters, ed., Collateral Damage: The New World Order at Home and Abroad, (Boston: South End Press, 1992), p. 161180 Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy towards 2000, A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm Project for a New American Century, letter to President Bill Clinton, Jan 26, 1998 Michael Schwartz, War Without End: The Iraq War in Context (Haymarket Books, 2008), p. 13-29 Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Islamist Perceptions of U.S. Policy in the Middle East in David Lesch, ed., The Middle East and the United States: a historical and political reassessment (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2003), p. 467-490 Trita Parsi, Under the Veil of Ideology: The Israeli-Iranian Strategic Rivalry, Middle East Report Online, June 9, 2006: http://www.merip.org/mero/mero060906.html Jason Brownlee, Imagining the Next Occupation, Middle East Report, No 249 (Winter 2008), p. 8-11 December 10: the Arab spring and the counterrevolution readings TBA